Clubs/Restaurants | ProHipHop

May 20, 2009

Hip Hop Soda Shop Slips Into Dead Pool

H3 Enterprises has announced the closing of their Tampa, Florida-based Hip Hop Soda Shop which is, in fact, their only physical location.

That leaves H3Gameline.com, which has no presence on Compete or Quantcast, suggesting a total absence of web traffic.

Considering H3 Enterprises' flatlined stock, this entity seems to have sunk to the bottom of a dirty pool at a cheap Tampa motel.

Official Site: Hip Hop Soda Shop

Posted by Clyde Smith on May 20, 2009 in Clubs/Restaurants, Hip Hop Penny Stocks | Permalink

February 23, 2009

Hollis Famous Burgers & Hip Hop Museum Opens

Corey Kilgannon covered the grand opening of Hollis Famous Burgers and the Hollis Hip Hop Museum in Hollis, Queens on Thursday.

DMC attended and donated memorabilia. Click through for video coverage.

Posted by Clyde Smith on February 23, 2009 in Clubs/Restaurants | Permalink

April 27, 2008

Ludacris & Chef Chris Yeo Discuss Straits Atlanta

Ludacris and Chef Chris Yeo are interviewed regarding the Atlanta outpost of Yeo’s Straits restaurant which opened Thursday night.

The Atlanta Peach discusses various issues with the location.

Posted by Clyde Smith on April 27, 2008 in Clubs/Restaurants | Permalink

January 20, 2008

The Palazzo Las Vegas Opens w/Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club

The Palazzo Las Vegas Hotel

Though Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club started celebrating back around New Year’s, The Palazzo Las Vegas Hotel officially opened for business last week.

From the photo credits:
Fireworks light up the sky during The Palazzo Las Vegas grand opening, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 50-story $1.9 billion, 3,066 room hotel-casino is the first new hotel on the Las Vegas strip in nearly three years and features an 85,000 square-foot Barney’s New York, 60 luxury boutiques, Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club, and restaurants by award-winning chefs Mario Batali, Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse and Charlie Trotter. (PRNewsFoto/The Palazzo Las Vegas)

Press Release:
The Palazzo Las Vegas Celebrates Grand Opening

Posted by Clyde Smith on January 20, 2008 in Clubs/Restaurants | Permalink

December 27, 2007

Kenwood Vineyards Lounge to Open w/Vegas 40/40 Club

Kenwood Vineyards is not only sponsoring the New Year’s Eve 40/40 Club Grand Opening in Las Vegas but they’re also sponsoring a permanent VIP room called the Kenwood Vineyards Lounge.

On the 40/40 Club:

"The new $20 million 40/40 Club Las Vegas is the third location of Jay-Z’s renowned upscale sports bar and lounge…The multi-level venue features 85 plasma screen televisions, five bars serving "top-shelf" wines and libations, and leather couch seating for ultimate sports enjoyment, plus a luxurious dining area offering all-American fare with a Latin accent and five VIP rooms — including the Kenwood Vineyards Lounge — for private events."

On the 40/40 Club opening event in Vegas:

"A throng of "A-List" celebrities will walk the red carpet in front of fans and the press before heading inside for an evening to include a welcome and ceremonial ribbon-cutting by Jay-Z, dancing to live celebrity DJs and a midnight toast. A one-hour television special, "Live on the Red Carpet at the 40/40 Club Las Vegas Grand Opening," is scheduled to air on "Extra" and "E!"."

On the Kenwood Vineyards Lounge:

"Literally a "club within a club," the intimate Kenwood Vineyards Lounge — which can accommodate only 70 guests — blends wine country accents with leather wrap around couches, hardwood floors, wood paneled walls, a sunken living room and an 8-foot pool table. This private space also is equipped with two 65-inch plasma screen televisions, an independent sound system, wireless internet access, Xbox, Playstation, chess boards and a complementary Ms. Pacman arcade game."

"One of the Kenwood Vineyard Lounge’s most distinctive amenities is a private outdoor terrace, with views of the famed Las Vegas Strip and the Las Vegas fireworks. Befitting a private, "by reservation only" lounge, VIP servers assigned exclusively to the Kenwood Vineyards Lounge will take care of guests’ food and beverage needs. A superb selection of premium Kenwood Vineyards Sonoma County wines will be available in the Kenwood Vineyards Lounge by the glass and by the bottle."

Official Site:
Kenwood Vineyards

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Jay-Z to Perform in Las Vegas New Year’s Weekend

Posted by Clyde Smith on December 27, 2007 in Alcohol/Tobacco, Clubs/Restaurants | Permalink

December 22, 2007

19) Robert Cummins aka Don Pooh Opens Brooklyn IHOP

Robert Cummins aka Don Pooh, a producer who’s worked with Foxy Brown and Mary J. Blige, opened an International House of Pancakes in Brooklyn on Tuesday.

Posted by Clyde Smith on December 22, 2007 in Clubs/Restaurants | Permalink

December 18, 2007

HipHopSodaShop Plans Celebrity Packed Opening

Looks like the HipHopSodaShop is having a celebrity packed opening in Tampa, Florida today.

Hip hop celebs include Busta Rhymes, Cassidy, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, Aqueelah McCummings, JT Money and Pretty Ricky. The event will include a performance by Doug E. Fresh with Andre Harrell playing host.

The press release includes this ambiguous line:
"Microsoft Joins Launch As Official HipHopSodaShop Supporter"

Event sponsor with onsite advertising perhaps? Microsoft is doing something but it’s unclear what.

In any case, best of luck with the opening!

Posted by Clyde Smith on December 18, 2007 in Clubs/Restaurants | Permalink

November 20, 2007

Hip Hop Grub Spot Opens w/Rick Ross Turkey Give Away

Rick Ross Turkey Give Away at Hip Hop Grub Spot

YouTube is acting up at the moment so I’m posting this video without seeing the whole thing, not something I’d normally do, but I have the feeling after the pics of Rick Ross greeting people that eventually he gives some turkeys away. Hopefully the beat changes by then.

This is one of a whole series of promotional videos from the Hip Hop Grub Spot about which I’ve previously posted.

They all are rather rough edged but do a nice job of providing an alternative to endless press releases about minor steps along the way. However there’s plenty of time for the traditional penny stock pr approach if they do go public in such a manner. Wikipedia’s entry on penny stocks, whose details may or may not be accurate, gives one a sense of the downside of such stocks.

Press releases for such companies often become a way to attempt to turn minor announcements into positive investor response. The Hip Hop Soda Shop’s press releases [for H3Enterprises/HTRE] managed to mostly avoid that fate until Ben Chavis showed up and a brief period that included some fairly ephemeral news ensued most likely to spur investor interest. However they’ve general stuck to real announcements.

As Hip Hop Grub Spot moves forward it will be interesting to see how their marketing approach changes as they attempt to go public.

Note:
I had to close comments on my previous post due to folks attempting to boost one company over another in the traditional manner of attempting to influence investor opinion.. I’ll probably have to do that with this post and, knowing that, I’m reminded of the fact that I would never take a company public in this manner because the penny stock sector is way too vulnerable to scams that can make the company look responsible for outside attempts to game the stock.

Posted by Clyde Smith on November 20, 2007 in Clubs/Restaurants, Hip Hop Penny Stocks | Permalink

October 04, 2007

Frank White Cafe Opens in Biggie Smalls’ Hood

Frank White is opening in Brooklyn on October 5th near where Biggie Smalls used to roam. The cafe/gallery/social spot will feature Biggie’s photograph to "honor…his memory."

Frank White was one of Notorious B.I.G.’s pseudonyms taken from the lead character in Abel Ferrara’s King of New York. And that’s the connection to Biggie but the movie and the drug trade are also references.

My first reaction was somewhat negative but it’s a hot name and they don’t seem to be overreaching their connections to that history so it sounds like a winner in that regard.

Brownstoner has a pic of the front of the shop and a few notes about the neighborhood. There are some interior shots through the window at ClintonHillBlog.

Official Site:
Frank White NYC

Posted by Clyde Smith on October 04, 2007 in Clubs/Restaurants | Permalink

September 26, 2007

Diddy Closes Manhattan Justin’s, Seeks Larger Setting

Diddy’s "neo-soul food restaurant", Justin’s, has closed its Manhattan location in order to seek a larger setting for the venue:
The company sees the larger Justin’s Restaurant in Atlanta, which takes up most of a city block, as the prototype for the new New York City location. Bad Boy representatives are evaluating a number of options for a larger space in some of New York City’s prime traffic areas.

Posted by Clyde Smith on September 26, 2007 in Clubs/Restaurants | Permalink